A keynote speech on spectrum policy opened the forum. Spectrum was described as the backbone of an industry where players are hard-pressed to keep up with consumer demand for mobile connectivity. The speaker called for a better balance between licensed, unlicensed and shared spectrum in the US. A balanced approach should recognise the significance of wide scale wireless networks and require measures to develop a robust spectrum pipeline with a focus on mid band spectrum. The lack of a licensed spectrum pipeline and uncertainty over which bands will become available and when could otherwise present a problem. Furthermore, if the US were able to align its policies with global partners through harmonisation, the promising possibilities of next generation wireless technology could happen faster and network deployment become cheaper. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the perfect example of a technology that knows no geographic boundaries and requires international policymakers to coordinate. Policymakers should encourage international best practices and support efforts for the alignment and harmonisation of national and regional AI policies. A single authority would also ensure parity across industries and help avoid duplicative enforcement of AI rules.
National and international priorities for the US government
With 5.5 billion connected people out of over 8 billion in the world, affordable connectivity remains a priority, according to the policymakers on this panel. Innovation and a healthy media ecosystem are other key objectives. Spectrum, as a key enabler of both access and innovation, is a topic where bi-partisan policymaking is likely, and where collaboration across regulatory agencies has made a difference. The panellists highlighted the US international cyberspace and digital policy strategy, unveiled in May 2024, which is based on the idea of digital solidarity. This means sharing a positive vision of the opportunities that technology can offer and helping other countries to build a digital ecosystem, as well as supporting other countries with capacity building to react against cyber incidents. A key role of regulators in enabling innovation is to promote competition – and innovation itself drives further competition. Policymaking needs industry stakeholders to ensure that regulation strikes the right balance across competing interests.
Network security, resilience and critical infrastructure protection
The forthcoming new administration is expected to bring many changes to domestic policy in the USA. But in the area of cybersecurity, where the focus is likely to be on supply chain security, the Trump administration is expected to continue the same bipartisan trend that began with Bush. Currently, there is a traditional compliance-based regulatory approach founded upon two statutes, the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act and the Secure Equipment Act. This results in the current list of ten companies, most prominently Huawei, ZTE and Kaspersky Lab, that are prohibited or discouraged in a variety of ways, as well as being ineligible for FCC authorisation.
One panellist observed that regulation in this area has tried to place the burden on the industry to ensure both performance and accountability. A representative of a major telecoms vendor chimed in with the view that fragmentation and complexity work against cybersecurity, because criminals will take advantage of gaps and inconsistencies. Regulation for cybersecurity should be based on proactive deterrence measures and promoting resilience. There is a need to collaborate and harmonise rules and requirements across the many agencies that currently deal with it.
Towards digital equity
Connecting rural or isolated communities is a challenge for many countries, rich and poor. In Canada, where large parts of the national territory are sparsely populated, a broadband fund was created in 2016 to finance deployment in rural, remote and indigenous communities. Together with a range of other measures promoted at the local level, in what was described as a ‘team effort’, the fund has succeeded in raising connectivity from 82 to 93 per cent of homes. However, this overall figure conceals the difficulty of connecting the most challenging locations: in the First Nations communities the figure is 50 per cent.
In the US, the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program (BEAD), was endowed with $42 billion to connect everyone to high speed, affordable and reliable internet. Underlying this programme was a huge planning effort, based on a high-quality baseline map of the underserved population, which allows individual states to pitch for proposals and get them funded by BEAD.
Speakers emphasised how tech neutrality has made a significant difference, bringing more and more affordable choice to households over time, and reiterated the critical need to use all relevant communications channels to make people aware of these ‘affordable connectivity’ programmes.
The Global Digital Compact and the future of multi-stakeholder policy and governance
The Global Digital Compact (GDC) is a United Nations’ initiative that focusses on some shared principles of digital cooperation in areas such as connectivity, data protection, human rights online and the ethical use of AI. Adopted in late 2024, the GDC features multi-stakeholder governance; inclusivity and diversity are key principles. Panellists reported that the programme entailed an inclusive and transparent process to develop an appropriately scoped document that respects existing rights and implementation is expected to be inclusive and transparent.
when it comes to spectrum, policymakers tend to stick to the known ways or the simplest solution instead of thinking creatively.
The next stage of the GDC is the implementation, where panellists anticipate the greatest challenges to be aligning projects with existing structures, such as universal service funds, and pulling in new stakeholders, such as UNESCO, that have not been involved in digital policy until now. Other potential challenges are financing and capacity building.
Spectrum policy – thinking outside the box
Policies regarding spectrum tend to be long term, requiring educated guesses of what is likely to happen ten years in the future. This inherent challenge may be the main reason why, when it comes to spectrum, policymakers tend to stick to the known ways or the simplest solution instead of thinking creatively. When it comes to capacity, is it needed everywhere? Often a lot of capacity is needed in dense urban areas while rural areas are oversupplied, and yet they are equally important. Other areas that are ripe for innovation are spectrum harmonisation and direct-to-device satellite communications.
Transatlantic developments: priorities for the European Commission
The European Union elected a new commission in 2024, and even though the presidency has not changed, the work of the new Commission is expected to be quite different. The main difference is the fact that the previous mandate has seen a lot of new laws covering digital services, digital markets, artificial intelligence, data, data governance and cyber resilience. The focus now is going to be on implementation and guidance for the new rules. Connectivity, security and artificial intelligence are the biggest priorities. The European Commission is working on AI factories – opening up Europe’s supercomputers to small companies that have good ideas for algorithms but lack the data or computing power to develop them further. This would also work in a federated AI model, whereby companies can access computing and data on the cloud.
Data governance on the global stage
A representative of the hardware industry provided their list of headlines in data regulation: the first is that data is becoming an increasingly valuable asset, and one that regulators also want to protect. The second is data governance, which is popping up in regulations beyond just privacy – from financial services to public procurement. The third is the fact that regulation now includes a broader scope of data, moving beyond personal data and into telemetry and product data. The importance of data management is also reflected in a global survey which found that three quarters of consumers will not do business with companies whose data management they do not trust.
A different perspective was presented by a panellist reporting on a comparative study of data policy in Asia. The research found that countries where the very top of government took leadership of their digital vision were more successful than the others. This is because many areas of digital regulation, such as data flows, cut across all sectors and require bringing together regulatory agencies with different backgrounds and philosophies. The ensuing conversation focussed on the new requirements placed on product design: data security and privacy, but also (particularly in the EU) consumers’ ability to extract the raw data they produce when using connected products. One view is that this kind of regulation is likely to stifle innovation; another perspective is that it rightly gives responsibility to tech developers and designers.
AI governance
Defined in several panels as ‘the shiny new object’, artificial intelligence is a ‘machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing real or virtual environments’ that underpins a vast range of uses – from vaccines to spellcheckers. While some AI systems are proprietary, others are open source and enable other companies to develop their own layer or applications on top.
A panellist representing new companies active at all levels of AI development argued that regulating AI should not discourage new players with expensive compliance, which should be outcome-based. Furthermore, there should be pro-competitive help for new players, with resources such as computing or quality datasets. Another panellist focussed on potential unfairness and bias in the use of AI, particularly when they contribute to consequential decisions such as hiring or mortgages etc. Recent laws issued in Colorado, for example, require developers and employers to exercise reasonable care to mitigate the risk of bias and unfairness. The conversation highlighted further concerns: privacy may be infringed by generative AI, and harmful content could be created and targeted at scale. Bias is a particular worry for small countries, where there may be a variety of ethnic and language groups but very limited resources to monitor AI. It is important that inclusivity and ethical standards be baked into AI regulation from the start. On the other hand, small countries have much to gain from the use of AI to expand education, combat climate change and make public services more efficient.
and then